Backlit young Guillemot

[nick clayton]

Farne Islands, Northumberland, UK. 30/06/14

Canon 7D
Canon EF 300mm f2.8 II USM Lens
Canon 1.4x II Extender

1/1250 @ f6.3
+1 EV
Aperture priority
ISO 400
Pattern

Levels
Curves
Saturation
Selective Color
Nik Software - Dfine 2.0 noise reduction - background only. Color Efex Pro 4 - Tonal Contrast & Detail Extractor on subject
Photoshop USM

Removed an adult bird from the left side of frame, copied tip of wing from right side to the left side because the adult bird was behind the end of the wing. Cloned out some highlights from the birds shoulders.

[arash_hazeghi]

great pose. The harsh light was not in favor here.

[nick clayton]

Thanks Arash. The harsh light was a problem, that's why I had a go at making backlit images, fortunately later in the day there was some thin cloud cover.

[Alan Murphy]

Good job handling the back light. More room for the virtual feet is needed for me.

[William Dickson]

I like it Nick, I like the feel about it, the bird looks as though it is frozen. Very cute, well done

[Grace Scalzo]

You made lemonade from lemons with this tough lighting. More room on the bottom for me also, and I'd burn in that rock. Real cute pose and good thinking on your part to use backlight to your advantage.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Lovely shot I like the pose, I would suggest toning down the bright rock, you did an excellent job on the wing.

[gail bisson]

I quite like this.
You did well with the light.
I like the outstretched wings and the clean look of the juvie. Just wish the rock wasn't so dominant,
Gail

[Marina Scarr]

Terrific pose you captured here and great PS work! I would never have noticed. Agree on burning the rock a bit and adding a tad more below. Yes, the light was harsh but am really liking the feather details on the bird's head, neck and wings!

[nick clayton]

Thanks for the suggestions, it's very much appreciated. I have added some canvas to the bottom of the frame and decreased the highlights in the rock by selecting the highlights and using another dose of detail extractor and decreasing the exposure.

[Shawn Zierman]

+1 on the repost! Nicely done from capture to pane #10. Sounds like you handled some tricky lighting and post processing, and you did it very well. Cute little bugger, and I enjoy it's pose.

[nick clayton]

Thanks Shawn

[Grace Scalzo]

Nick, I like this image so much, I've looked at it a couple times. That bright rock (even in your repost) just isn't working for me. I had an idea which I tried…what do you think?

I used the ruler tool to level it, and then rotated it accordingly (10.23 degrees). Then cropped it into this pano treatment. Filled in the corners with blue that got lost in the crop. Then I selected the bird, then the inverse, and put that on its own layer and with a series of quick masks and a bit of cloning, removed the rock and repaired the lower right hand corner of the bird that was behind the rock. This took perhaps 4 minutes at most.

[nick clayton]

I like the idea and it helps not having the rock there, I'm just not sure about the angle of the bird though, thanks for your effort Grace.

[nick clayton]

Thanks for the idea Grace, I removed the rock and added some lower body to the Guillemot.

[Grace Scalzo]

Glad that you like the idea, Nick. As for the angle, that's your call! I was going for a "hug" feeling, but I like yours too.